No one is using 'hella' sarcastically in California, unless they are some kind of douche that wants to ruin the fun. I assume the same goes for 'wicked' in New England. As a native Texan that considers myself now a Californian as well, I do understand that using those words makes you sound pretty stupid anywhere else. 'Y'all' works anywhere though, the only ones who mock it are pseudo-intellectual and pretentious types, I've found.

/forced myself to not say 'hella' when I moved here but it couldn't be stopped//started saying 'mad' recently as a replacement, props to NYC!

LaughingRadish:Twitch Boy: I've actually made wapatuli at college in the UP of Michigan. We just called it wop. We had a party during Winter Carnival every year with a 55 gallon barrel of the stuff with real fruit.

My friend once got a very interesting phone call from Wells Fargo fraud prevention after purchasing the required 30 handles of Everclear.

/I went to a drinking school with an engineering problem

I never heard that name. I always knew it as "jungle juice".

we used to call it purple jesus - mainly cause we always used grape juice in it and there was sooooo much everclear you thought you were seeing him.

I submit 'skookum'. Was used for damn fine, damn good, or strong where I grew up.

Q: How do you be?A: Skookum

Another was "Clean", but not used how I see it used on the rest of the planet.Q: How do I look?A: CleanQ: WTF does that mean? Do I normally smell?A: No, I noticed you got a haircut and you ironed the crap you're wearing.

I've since been able to reduce the PNW markers from my regular language. After 40 years I've almost been able to substitute "sure" for "you bet".

I've also stopped using 'do' as much. As an example, instead of "You want to do you some eats?" is now "would you like to get a bite to eat?"

It caused me untold hell when I escaped from the forest and entered the business world.

rev. dave:batcookie: So wait... the present participle of Georgia's word for vomiting is the same as smothering someone with a pillow? That could make for some awkard confusion...

Never heard of anyone use this word in Ga, and I have heard quite a few unusual words. The sound of vomiting is ellk.

Well I don't know about the accuracy of the article, but "to burke" means to smother someone (after William Burke, half of the infamous serial killer duo Burke & Hare), so assuming the article is correct in that some people from Ga say "burk" instead of vomit, even though the infinitives are subtly different, the present participles would both be burking. It could lead to some very bad misunderstandings....

Nina Haagen Dazs:I have yet to hear a Wisconsinite say whoopensocker. If they do, I'd bet they live near the Iowa border.

As someone who grew up and spends much time on Wisconsin's Iowa border, I assure you we are a backwards people who in fact do not say "whoopensocker." You will notice that it exceeds our typical vocabulary by two syllables.

Also, for the record, it's called wop not wapatuli. It's based on the word pop. If made well, it can be tolerable. When you go through a lot of alcohol, it's reasonable to save the ends of bottles for this concoction.

I decided that "go for it" is a more accurate translation of "fill yer boots." Anyone else out there who can be more precise? Also, as a CFA Maritimer, I realize that it might be more regional than I think. Maybe NFLD origin?

Rising_Zan_Samurai_GunmanNina Haagen Dazs: I have yet to hear a Wisconsinite say whoopensocker. If they do, I'd bet they live near the Iowa border.

^This

I've lived in Wisconsin 32 years and have never heard "whoopensocker" or "wapatuli".Whoopensocker actually sounds like it would come from the UP of Michigan, or one of the more Norwegian areas of MN (like in the movie "Fargo")

My grandfather (1st generation Dutch immigrant) used to call his Brandy's his whoopensocker. My parent also used to tell stories of their "wapatuli" too. I've never seen either of these in writing and always thought it was my crazy family.

NDP2:Granolabar: propasaurus: doglover: SilentStrider: Its soda. Calling it soda or sodapop should be illegal.

It's pop.

It's coke.

It's a mixer.

Surveys assume people in a particular region use only one term. What about those who alternate? I'm from the Pacific Northwest and I alternate between using "soda" and "pop" to describe carbonated beverages. However, I lived in California for a time so maybe that has something to do with it.

vudukungfu:TheJoe03: Where the hell is hella? Most people under 50 say that word at least once in a while if they are from NorCal. I guess this list had nothing to do with slang terms people actually say.

lewismarktwo:These words are almost certainly not good enough to enter the general lexicon. Otherwise we might have heard of a few.

They're older words that people used to use, but that fell out of regional use with the advent of radio and especially television, both of which popularized a sanitized version of the particular vocabulary of the early to mid 20th century Atlantic states.

Gordon Bennett:That's it. As of now I hereby withdraw your licence to use the English language.

Destroy someone else's. Preferably the French.

That's a funny thing to say, because the reason French is so moribund and esoteric as a language is because it, unlike English, has a group of official censors maintained by the French government who's job it is to keep the language stuck in the 1900s by acting on the snobbery you just expressed.

One of the great strengths of English is that in the 20th century our linguists have mostly become descriptionists concerned with recording actual use, instead of proscriptionists concerned with what ought to be the "official" vocabulary of the language. As if the fantasy that if you just don't put a word down in a dictionary, people will stop using it could ever be true.

I for one use 'buffle-headed' regularly, but not because I'm from Pennsylvania. I know the term primarily from Imoen of Baldur's Gate, who would call the rest of the party this if you ever moved her to the "party-leader" slot.